Eagles News: PFF says Cooper DeJean also deserves Defensive Rookie of the Year consideration

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After a quiet start, Eagles’ Cooper DeJean is emerging as a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate - PFF

From Weeks 6-11, only fellow second-round rookie cornerbacks Renardo Green and Kamari Lassiter have earned higher coverage grades than DeJean (79.4). DeJean, despite a down performance against the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football in Week 11, hasn’t allowed a touchdown and ranks tied for fourth in the league in coverage stops (11). Heading into that game against the Commanders, DeJean boasted an 83.7 season-long PFF grade and an 85.9 PFF coverage grade, ranking fourth and first, respectively, among NFL cornerbacks. Thursday Night Football wasn’t as kind to DeJean, as he put up a season-low 53.5 PFF overall grade and 52.1 PFF coverage grade, allowing eight catches for 53 yards and three first downs. He did play a career-high 66 defensive snaps, but the weaker performance damaged his still-strong season-long grades — 77.2 overall and 78.9 in coverage. Regardless, the Eagles have finally unleashed DeJean to create a young cornerback duo between him and Mitchell that should give defenses fits for years to come — a positive development in a division featuring Dak Prescott, Jayden Daniels and whomever the Giants find to replace Daniel Jones.

Eagles-Commanders snap counts: Jalen Carter made his impact felt while playing the entire game - BGN
Jalen Carter didn’t miss a snap. Wow. His previous career-high was the 96% he played against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9. Hard to blame the Eagles for not wanting to take him off the field in a key game. He was a monster out there.

Saquon Barkley makes his MVP case in Eagles’ win over Commanders - SB Nation
On the season, Barkley leads the NFL with 1,137 rushing yards — although Derrick Henry is close behind with 1,120 and has a chance to respond in his Week 11 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday — putting him on pace to eclipse his previous career-high of 1,312, set back when he was with the New York Giants in the 2022 season. That number accounts for 63% of the team’s rushing yards. He also leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,347, although Henry will again have his chance to respond on Sunday against the Steelers. Beyond the numbers, Barkley is the true engine of the Eagles’ offense, a fact that he showed on Thursday night against Washington. For the bulk of Thursday night’s game against the Commanders, the Philadelphia offense was struggling. Jake Elliott missed a pair of field goals, the Eagles passing game was out of rhythm, and Philadelphia took a 12-10 lead early in the fourth quarter on a tush push TD from Hurts, only to see Elliott miss the extra point.

Roob’s Eagles Stats: Just how rare is Eagles’ rushing success? - NBCSP
1. During their six-game winning streak, the Eagles have outgained the Browns by 128 yards, the Giants by 220 yards, the Bengals by 117, Jaguars by 232, Cowboys by 202 and Commanders by 170. That’s a 1,069-yard margin, the Eagles’ largest in any six-game span in 71 years. This is why we love the Stathead team span finder yardage margin tab. Last time the Eagles outgained six opponents by more yards was in 1953, when they outgained the Giants, Colts, Cardinals, Giants, Washington and Browns by 1,135. They’ve outgained their 10 opponents by 1,068 yards, which is their largest margin to start a season since 1954, when they outgained their first 10 opponents by 1,154 yards.

Another huge defensive stand propels Eagles to a key win - NBCSP
It was a huge fourth-down stop by this Eagles defense but that’s not anything new. They’ve been coming through in these clutch situations. The Eagles’ defense has now faced eight 4th-and-2 or shorter situations this season when the offense goes for it and has given up just three conversions. That conversion rate of 37.5% is the lowest in the NFL: 1. Eagles: 3/8 (37.5%), 2. Patriots: 2/5 (40%), t-3. Vikings: 3/7 (42.9%), t-3. Lions: 3/7 (42.9%), 5. Bills: 6/13 (46.2%). After the Eagles’ stop on fourth down, the offense got the ball back and eventually scored on the first Saquon Barkley touchdown. After a Jayden Daniels interception from Reed Blankenship, Barkley punched in another long touchdown run and the game was basically over. It went from the Eagles’ clinging to a two-point lead to ballgame in a few minutes. And it really all started with that huge fourth-down stop.

Eagles brandishing a Super Bowl-level defense, but Lane Johnson has a warning for entire team - NJ.com
Lane Johnson told the cautionary tale of the 2023 season late Thursday night after the Eagles completed their short week by chalking up a sixth straight victory, this one behind another relentless defensive effort that made the betting favorite for NFL offensive rookie of the year simply look like a rookie. “As good as things are going, I want people to remember last year,” Johnson said after a fourth-quarter offensive surge allowed the Eagles to pull away for a 26-18 victory over the Washington Commanders. “You’re 10-1 and you get that complacency feeling, you can find out quickly that this league will knock you on your ass if you let it.”

2025 NFL offseason: Possible surprise cut, trade candidates - ESPN+
Bryce Huff, Edge, Philadelphia Eagles. What? Didn’t he just sign there? Yes, Huff was a high-profile free agent signing by the Eagles, who gave him a three-year, $51.1 million deal to lure him away from the Jets. Given the way the season has unfolded, Huff is certainly happy with that move. But are the Eagles happy with him? Huff played just 12% of their defensive snaps in Week 9, 20% in Week 10 and 22% in Week 11 (after averaging 44% over the first eight weeks). He has 2.5 sacks, 14 pressures and four quarterback hits, and he seems to be a lesser part of the pass-rush rotation than the Eagles hoped he would be when they signed him. Now, he also has $16.75 million in guaranteed money coming in 2025, so the Eagles aren’t likely to cut him. Instead, he’s on here because, at age 26, he could be an appealing trade target for a team looking for edge rush help that thinks he’d fit better with them than he does in Philly.

Spadaro: Then and now, reviewing the Eagles’ key moves in free agency - PE.com
DE Bryce Huff: Signed as an unrestricted free agent. What the Eagles said about Huff: “He’s heavy-handed, he understands leverage, he’s got explosiveness in his body.” – Howie Roseman. What Huff has added: He is playing in the edge rotation and his productivity has improved as has the Eagles’ entire defense. Huff figures to play an important role for the Eagles up front the rest of this season.

Week 17 will present multiple flex issues for the NFL - PFT
Already, the NFL might need to move a 1:00 p.m. ET Sunday game to the 4:25 p.m. ET slot, since it’s currently occupied by Cowboys-Eagles. Meanwhile, the Sunday night game for that week — Dolphins-Browns — looks to be a potential stinker.

Former Eagles RB Signs With WWE - SI
Former Eagles running back Elijah Holyfield is taking a run at WWE. Holyfield, 26, spent time with the Eagles during the Doug Pederson era and was signed to the active roster in advance of the team’s playoff loss to Seattle after the 2019 season.

Who Are the Best Up-and-Coming NFL Head Coaching Candidates? - The Ringer
Early Vetting for the 2026 cycle: Dennard Wilson, Tennessee Titans Defensive Coordinator. Jesse Minter, Los Angeles Chargers Defensive Coordinator. Defining coaching characteristics: combining multiple schemes to play sound, disciplined football. Because defensive coaches typically have to put up gaudy numbers on winning teams to be hot names in the hiring cycle, I’m not sure we should expect serious consideration for defensive coordinators Minter or Wilson this winter. Both of these coordinators have been exposed to a wide variety of defensive schemes over their coaching careers—Minter through the college ranks and Wilson while working under a wide variety of NFL play callers. In 2024, both have found themselves leading defenses that do not allow explosive plays from opposing offenses.

Commanders Vs. Eagles (Game One) - Studs and Duds - Hogs Haven
DUDS: Jayden Daniels - You can argue Daniels wasn’t himself all game, but that won’t keep him off this week’s duds list. He had his worst game since the season opener against Tampa Bay and looked every bit a rookie. He consistently underthrew open receivers, locked onto his first target too often and threw a costly interception later in the fourth quarter. He made some plays in garbage time on Washington’s last drive that actually made his stats look better than how he actually played.

2 impending free agents who could be entering their final weeks as a Dallas Cowboy - Blogging The Boys
2) DE DeMarcus Lawrence. It’s hard to believe DeMarcus Lawrence is currently in his eleventh season as a Cowboy. Lawrence is tied with Zack Martin as the longest-tenured player on Dallas’ roster, and it seems almost certain this will be his final year as a Cowboy. The injury bug bit Lawrence once again this season as he was placed on IR after Week 4 with a foot injury. With the current state of the Cowboys and Lawrence’s advanced age, it’s fair to question if he’ll return this year. [...] The Cowboys lack edge depth so bringing Lawrence back would be a huge help in beefing that up, but much like Lewis, he’ll almost certainly price himself out of Dallas’ market. Last spring former Cowboy Dorance Armstrong earned himself a three-year, $33M contract in free agency. Even though Lawrence is significantly older than Armstrong, it’s fair to assume a contending team will be willing to give him at least the same amount of money annually ($11M) to join their team. As we’ve seen in recent years, if the contract is above $5-6M a year in free agency the Cowboys are not going to be interested, making Lawrence’s return very unlikely. It’s sad to imagine him playing for another team, but that seems guaranteed to become a reality in 2025.

Daniel Jones ‘may be staying’ as New York Giants’ starting QB, per report - Big Blue View
I’m not buying. I think the Giants don’t really have a choice here but to move on. They are playing with financial fire if they don’t. They also open up the potential of next Sunday at MetLife Stadium when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers being really ugly. I know, though, that you guys will want to weigh in on this one. So, have at it.